'Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2' debuts to enthusiastic, multi-generational crowds

View full sizeThe Republican | Mark M. MurrayHaley Rivers, 14, left, and her mother Teri Rivers, and Isabella Russo, 13, all of West Springfield, give high marks to the last Harry Potter movie after exiting the Rave theater complex in West Springfield Friday.

“I loved it. It answers everything you need to know,” 14-year-old Haley L. Rivers, of West Springfield, said of the movie.

Rivers’s mother, Teri A. Rivers, 45, brought her and her friend, Isabella V. Russo, 13, of West Springfield, to the eighth and final Harry Potter film. The movie had its American premiere Friday.

“I was in tears at the end because it (the saga) was over,” her mother said.

The trio gave high marks to the movie, which they said tied up all the loose ends in the long-running story of Harry Potter and his friends at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Potter is locked in conflict with the evil wizard Lord Voldemort to the very end of J.K. Rowling’s tale.

They were impressed with the special effects, which they said have gotten better and better with each succeeding Harry Potter movie.

View full sizeThe Republican | Mark M. MurrayJoshua Sanabria, left, and Kimberly Hurst, both of Chicopee, talk Friday about the last Harry Potter movie after leaving the theater in West Springfield.

“They’ve come so far with it technologically,” Teri A. Rivers said.

“It was one of the best movies I have ever seen,” Haley said. “They really brought the book to life in front of you. They really nailed it.”

“I like the story line and how there is always something new and unexpected,” Isabella said. “I think this was the best one. Everything was solved. Everything was unleashed.”

The three fans said they like Harry Potter so much they get together to watch his movies every time the Family Channel has a Harry Potter weekend. They said they look forward to viewing the grand finale together again and again.

“Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2” is the second movie based on Rowling’s seventh Harry Potter book.

Kimberly A. Hurst, 26, of Chicopee, attended Friday’s premiere. She was less impressed, saying some parts of the final book in the series on which the movie was based were left out. However, the parts that were in the film were right on the money, she said.

Hurst started reading the Harry Potter books and seeing his movies at the age of 19.

“My little brother was into it before me. I thought it was a kid’s book,” Hurst said. “I just fell in love with it.”

And likely movie theater chains have also fallen in love with Harry Potter, whose latest film is projected to gross more than $300 million domestically, according to Jeremy M. Devine, vice president of marketing for the Rave cinema chain. The chain is based in Dallas, Texas.

Attendance at the midnight showings of the movie at the chain’s theaters in West Springfield, Springfield and Enfield, Conn., was twice that of the first showing of the film of Part 1 of the Hallows story, he said.

“We added screen after screen after screen to accommodate the crowds,” Devine said.

The popularity of the film shows that despite some predictions going out to the movies will not be edged out by viewing them at home, he said.

People still want to see films on the big screen and they still want to get together and see them with other people, Devine said.